Any Mac & Cheese Recipes?

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It's been awhile since I've made it, but I made a killer baked mac and cheese last year. I put a layer of elbow macaroni in the bottom of a glass baking pan, put a couple of scoops of butter on top of it, season w/ salt and pepper and sprinkle w/ extra sharp white chedder cheese and smoked chedder cheese. I repeat the process for a second layer then pour a little bit of milk over it. I cover and bake at 350* until the cheese melts and the macaroni on top starts to brown.
 
Here is one we love - we have done it for wedding rehersals and for a catered dinner - Hope you like it

7 Cheese Mac and Cheese
Prep Time: 30 min

Cook Time: 1 hr 10 min
Serves: 6 servings

Ingredients
  • 1 pounds elbow macaroni
  • 6 eggs
  • 1/2 cup cubed Velveeta cheese
  • 1/4 pound (2 sticks) butter, melted
  • 3 cups half-and-half, divided
  • 2 cups grated sharp yellow Cheddar, divided
  • 1 cups grated extra-sharp white Cheddar
  • 3/4 cups grated mozzarella
  • 1/2 cup grated Asiago
  • 1/2cup grated Gruyere
  • 1/2 cup grated Monterey Jack
  • 1/2 cup grated Muenster
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 tablespoon black pepper
Directions
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add the macaroni and cook until slightly al dente, about 10 minutes. Drain and set aside to keep warm.
Whisk the eggs in a large bowl until frothy.
Add the Velveeta, butter and 2 cups of the half-and-half to the large bowl of eggs. Add the warm macaroni tossing until the cheese has melted and the mixture is smooth. Add the remaining half-and-half, 3 cups of the sharp yellow Cheddar, the remaining grated cheeses, and salt and pepper, tossing until completely combined in the large bowl.
Pour the mixture into 9 by 13-inch casserole or baking dishes (approximately 3 (3-quart) baking dishes) and bake for 30 minutes. Sprinkle with the remaining 1 cup of sharp yellow cheese and bake until golden brown on top, about 30 minutes more.
Serve hot.
 
My favorite I grew up with

Macaroni Monterey

Original recipe makes enough for a 2qt casserole dish (or an 8x8 dish) but if you double up it will fit a 9x13, all depends on how many you are serving.

8oz rotelle pasta
8oz monterey jack cheese, shredded or cut into small cubes
1C sour cream
2Tbsp butter
1/2tsp salt
1/4tsp black pepper

Boil the pasta according to box directions (al dente)
drain pasta, mix all the ingredients with the pasta, transfer to a lightly greased casserole dish.
Bake in a preheated oven at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Grab a fork and enjoy
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interesting gary.........i would not have thought of using eggs, might have to try it.
 
Most Mac & Cheese's call for a roux to be made when making the cheese sauce. My suggestion is instead of using butter as the oil part of the roux, brown off about half a pound of bacon and set aside. Get rid of about half of the bacon grease, and use the rest as the base of the roux. If you use all the grease, it makes the M&C a little too oily, but half is just right.

Then you can use the cooked bacon as a topping or mixed into the dish itself. Regardless, the bacon grease gives the mac and cheese a good flavor, smokey yet not over powering. And the bacon gives the cheese sauce a good flavor.

Everything is better with bacon. And Mac & Cheese is no exception.
 
We taught this one to our 4H kids and every one of the moms called us and told us they made this and will not make it any other way after they tasted it LOL
 
Here's mine. It's pretty tasty and reduced fat. I had it published in the DEC09 issue of Cooking Light Magazine. I haven't tried it out on the smoker yet but don't see why it wouldn't work. I use Kraft 2% Italian Blend cheese and Cabot's reduced fat cheddar. Sometimes I'll stir in some grilled or smoked chicken and some peas and call it a meal.


[font=&quot]Two Pepper Rigatoni and Cheese[/font]

[font=&quot]5 cups uncooked rigatoni (16 ounces uncooked pasta)[/font]
[font=&quot]2 tablespoons butter, divided or 2TBSP EVOO[/font]
[font=&quot]1 cup chopped red bell pepper[/font]
[font=&quot]3 tablespoons all-purpose flour[/font]
[font=&quot]3 cups fat-free milk[/font]
[font=&quot]1 cup (4 ounces) shredded fontina cheese or Italian Blend[/font]
[font=&quot]1 cup (4 ounces) grated aged sharp cheddar cheese (such as Cabot Seriously Sharp cheddar)[/font]
[font=&quot]1 finely chopped pickled or fresh jalapeno pepper[/font]
[font=&quot]¾ teaspoon salt[/font]
[font=&quot]½ cup sliced green onions[/font]
[font=&quot]Cooking spray[/font]
[font=&quot]1 cup bread crumbs[/font]

[font=&quot]1)[/font][font=&quot] Preheat oven to 375°.[/font]
[font=&quot]2)[/font][font=&quot] Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain well; place in a large bowl.[/font]
[font=&quot]3)[/font][font=&quot] Melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper; sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Add to pasta.[/font]
[font=&quot]4)[/font][font=&quot] Add flour to pan. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Bring to a boil; cook 2 minutes or until thickened, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add cheeses, stirring until cheeses melt and mixture is smooth. Stir in jalapeno and salt. Add cheese mixture to pasta, tossing well to coat. Stir in green onions. Spoon pasta mixture into a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray.[/font]
[font=&quot]5)[/font][font=&quot] Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter. Combine butter and breadcrumbs in a small bowl; toss well until blended. Sprinkle breadcrumb mixture over pasta mixture. Bake at 375° for 15 minutes or until browned.
[/font]

[font=&quot]Yield: 8 servings (serving size: 1 cup).[/font]
Prep time: 15 min.
Cook time: 28 min.
 
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I'd like to hear reviews of all of these smoked. I've got a new "clan" of people that I have to be associated with and of course now they want the "smoked" experience. Mac & Chz is a favorite of ours (and just about everyone), is cheapish, and with the meats is a great compliment.
 
I make a roux with butter and flour, then add milk. I do this in my dutch oven. I add minced garlic, salt and pepper and some velveeta cheese and various other cheese, whatever I'm in the mood for at the time. I also add some rotel, usually the habanero but any will work or just some diced green chilies. Let the cheese melt on low heat, keep stirring. Then I add the elbow macaroni pre-cooked al dente, mix it all together and add some cheese on top and bake. I just bake it in the dutch.
 
Here is one my wife makes and it's really good.

1 Box(16oz) elbow macaroni
2 pounds of processed American Cheese
1 Tbs. dry mustard
Salt and pepper to taste
1 Cup of grated cheddar cheese
3/4 Cup Course bread crumbs

Heat the oven to 375 deg. Grease a 9x13 baking dish. Cook the macaroni in salted water. Before you strain remove 3 cups and set aside. Strain the macaroni. Now add the macaroni to a pot add the 3 cups of the reserved water and the processed American cheese. Stir over low heat until chesse is melted. It may look watery but it will absorb when baking. Pour mixture in baking pan. Bake for 20 minutes. Top with cheddar cheese and bread crumbs. Bake another 10 minutes or until cheese is melted. Enjoy!!
 
Let me try mine..

I use penne pasta not elbows, the ridges hold lots of cheesy goodness.

2 lbs penne pasta cooked
2 cans evaporated milk
2 sticks butter
1/2 to 3/4 of loaf (vellvita type) cheese cubed
2-3 hand-fulls of shredded cheese (we like sharp cheddar and mozzarella)
4 to 6 slices bacon crumbled
bread crumbs to cover

heat butter till hot and melted add milk till hot then add loaf cheese under low heat till melted add shredded cheese to tighten up sauce some. Mix well with pasta into a large baking dish cover with bread crumbs and bacon and bake about 1/2 hour at 325 or so till crumbs brown up.

I make this all the time (6 kids) we often don't bake and leave off the top, but it's better with it.
I also make this a main dish sometimes by browning 1 1/2 lbs of ground beef or beef sausage combo. Kids call that dirty mac and cheese.

You can easily make 1/2 batch too, but again 6 kids here so we never do, my little one will eat this 3 meals a day till gone if we let him.
 
Ok, I'm going to pull up another old tread.  I figure I can add to a thread rather then starting a new one.

Everyone's mac and cheese sounds good here. Everyone is referring to baking.  

What do you do differently to smoke it?  What temp and how long?   I want to try this.  My mother used to make the best mac and cheese. 
 
 isfflcommish,

Do you boil the mac first then add every thing . After that do you put it into the smoker to just melt the cheese and add the smokey goodness?

Would like to make this with my fatty Saturday.

Thanks for any input!!
 
My grandma grew up on a farm in South Carolina and her mom used the evaporated milk in this recipe out of necessity one day since the cows were not giving any milk...she liked how it worked and stuck with the evaporated milk.  This is always served at BBQs and parties in our family.  Kind of a guilty pleasure...

1lb. of elbow macaroni

4 eggs lightly beaten

1 stick of butter melted

2 cans of evaporated milk (Make sure it is NOT sweetened condensed milk)

1 1/2 lbs of of extra sharp cheddar cheese cubed

1/2 lb. of extra sharp cheddar cheese sliced into long strips

1 teaspoon of salt

1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

Directions:

1.  Cook the macaroni according to the package directions

2. Drain and return macaroni to the pot it was cooked in

3.  Pour in 2 cans of evaporated milk and one (evaporated milk) can filled with water into the pot.

4.  Mix in butter, eggs, cubed cheese, salt, and pepper.

5.  Pour entire contents of the pot into a greased  9x13 glass dish.

6.  Lay sliced cheese on top of the macaroni mixture.

7.  Bake at 350 for 45 minutes or until a toothpick can stand up in the center

8.  Make sure to let it cool for about ten minutes (If served right away it will be a runny mess...all that fat has to seize up a little haha)

Enjoy!  

Great thing about this recipe is that its easy and you can customize it to your liking by switching up the cheeses, adding breadcrumbs instead of the top layer of cheese, or adding some bacon or smoked meat to it.  

Just started smoking so if anyone tries this recipe in a smoker, let me know! 
 
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